Overview

Lured to Tahiti in 1891 by reports of its unspoiled culture, Gauguin was disappointed by its civilized capital and moved to the countryside, where he found an approximation of the tropical paradise he had expected. The Tahiti of his depictions was derived from native folklore supplemented by material culled from books written by earlier European visitors and overlaid with allusions to western culture. The pose of the standing nude, for instance, is derived from a medieval statue of the biblical Eve and more distantly from the Venus Pudica of classical sculpture. The artist placed this rich combination of references to original sin, the loss of virginity, and occidental standards of beauty and art within the context of his Tahitian mythology and primitive, non–European aesthetics.

The meaning of the title Parau na te Varua ino is unclear. The phrase varua ino, evil spirit or devil, refers to the masked kneeling figure and parau means words, suggesting the interpretation "Words of the Devil." The meaning of many of Gauguin's Tahitian paintings remains elusive. There is little likelihood that Gauguin's original audience would have been able to interpret the Tahitian legends that Gauguin carefully inscribed on most of the 66 paintings he took back to Paris in 1892.

[2]Lent by Vollard to the 1913 Armory show as Spirit of Evil and offered for sale there. (See Archives of American Art, Walt Kuhn Family Papers and Armory Show Records, 1.3 European Entry Cards and 1.4 Notes).

A Century of Progress. The Art Institute of Chicago, 1933, no. 352, as At the Edge of the Forest (Parau Na Te Varua Ino)

1934

Exhibition of French Painting from the Fifteenth Centiry to the Present Day, The California Palace of the Legion of Honor, 1934, no. 102, repro., as At the Edge of the Forest

1935

One Hundred Years French Painting 1820-1920, The William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and The Mary Atkins Museum of Fine Arts, Kansas City, MO, 1935, no. 28, as At the Edge of the Forest (Parau na te Varu [sic] ino)

1935

The Post Impressionists, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, 1935, no cat., as At the Edge of the Forest

Paul Gauguin 1848-1903, A Retrospective Loan Exhibition for the Benefit of Les Amis de Paul Gauguin and The Penn Normal Industrial and Agricultural School, Wildenstein & Co., New York, 1936, no. 26, as At the Edge of the Forest, Parau...

1936

Paul Gauguin 1848-1903, The Baltimore Museum of Art, 1936, no. 15, as At the Edge of the Forest, Parau na te Varua ino